übrigenvsübrigesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“übrigen” and “übriges” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,186
“übrigen” frequency rank
#29,895
“übriges” frequency rank
32081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature übrigen übriges
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs übrig Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs übrig

Where the eye mixes übrigen and übriges

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. übrigen and übriges follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
übrigen
7 ch
übriges

Why the eye confuses übrigen with übriges

A purely visual mix-up. übrigen ([ˈyːbʁɪɡn̩]) and übriges ([ˈyːbʁɪɡəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “übrigen” becomes s in “übriges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

übrigen is recorded at frequency rank #2,186, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈyːbʁɪɡn̩]. übriges is at rank #29,895, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈyːbʁɪɡəs].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 32081, this pair ranks #1,715,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of übrigen vs übriges

Shared letters: begirü. Private to "übrigen": n. Private to "übriges": s.

"übrigen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "übriges" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "übrigen" for "übriges" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈyːbʁɪɡn̩] versus [ˈyːbʁɪɡəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "übrigen" vs "übriges" - which ranks higher?
"übrigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,186 in our German list, against #29,895 for "übriges". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "übrigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "übriges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,715,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "übrigen" and "übriges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "übrige vs übriges". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,715,098 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list